Eastern Conference (WNBA)

Template:Short description Template:Infobox sports conference The Eastern Conference is one of two conferences that make up the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA), the other being the Western Conference. The Eastern conference consists on 6 teams whereas with the addition of Golden State Valkyries from 2025 season , Western conference will consist on 7 teams.

From the league's second season in 1998 through 2015, the WNBA operated separate playoff brackets for its Eastern and Western Conferences. Each conference's playoff was divided into two playoff rounds, the Conference Semi-Finals and the Conference Finals, with the Conference Finals winners receiving Conference Championships and advancing to the WNBA Finals to determine the WNBA champion. In the final years of this playoff scheme, all in-conference playoff series were best-of-three.

Since 2016, the league has abandoned separate conference playoffs in favor of a single league-wide playoff bracket. The top eight teams in the regular season, without regard to conference affiliation, advance to the playoffs, which are seeded based strictly on regular-season record (with tiebreakers as needed). The bottom four playoff teams play single-elimination games (5 vs. 8, 6 vs. 7) in the first round, with the higher seeds (5 and 6) hosting the games. The first-round winners advance to the second round, where they play the 3 and 4 seeds in single-elimination games. The 3 seed hosts the lower seed among the first-round winners, with the 4 seed hosting the other first-round survivor. The winners of these games advance to the WNBA Semifinals, where they face the top two seeds in best-of-five series. In this round, the 1 seed plays the lower seed among the second-round winners, and the 2 seed plays the other second-round winner. Both series are best-of-five and played in a 2–2–1 format, with the higher seeds (1 and 2) hosting the first two games plus a possible fifth game. The winners of these series advance to the best-of-five WNBA Finals.

Teams

Team	City/Area	Arena	Colors	Joined WNBA	Head coach
Atlanta Dream	College Park, Georgia	Gateway Center Arena	Sky blue, red, white	2008	Karl Smesko
Chicago Sky	Chicago, Illinois	Wintrust Arena	Sky blue, yellow, white	2006	Tyler Marsh
Connecticut Sun	Uncasville, Connecticut	Mohegan Sun Arena	Navy blue, red, gold, white	1999*	Rachid Meziane
Indiana Fever	Indianapolis, Indiana	Gainbridge Fieldhouse	Navy blue, gold, red, white	2000	Stephanie White
New York Liberty	Brooklyn, New York	Barclays Center	Black, green, orange, white	1997	Sandy Brondello
Washington Mystics	Washington, D.C.	Entertainment and Sports Arena	Navy, gray, white, red	1998	Sydney Johnson

Former teams

Defunct

• Charlotte Sting (1997–2006)
• Cleveland Rockers (1997–2003)
• Miami Sol (2000–2002)

Changed to Western Conference

• Houston Comets

Relocated

• Orlando Miracle to Connecticut Sun (2003)
• Detroit Shock to Tulsa Shock (West) (2009); team now plays in the West as the Dallas Wings (2016)

Eastern Conference champions

The WNBA awarded conference championships between 1998 and 2015 to the winners of the Conference Finals in the playoffs. Conference championships were not awarded in the 1997 inaugural season, and they were again discontinued since the WNBA adopted its current single-table playoff format in 2016.

WNBA champions in bold

• 1998: Cleveland Rockers
• 1999: New York Liberty
• 2000: New York Liberty (2)
• 2001: Charlotte Sting
• 2002: New York Liberty (3)
• 2003: Detroit Shock
• 2004: Connecticut Sun
• 2005: Connecticut Sun (2)
• 2006: Detroit Shock (2)
• 2007: Detroit Shock (3)
• 2008: Detroit Shock (4)
• 2009: Indiana Fever
• 2010: Atlanta Dream
• 2011: Atlanta Dream (2)
• 2012: Indiana Fever (2)
• 2013: Atlanta Dream (3)
• 2014: Chicago Sky
• 2015: Indiana Fever (3)

All-time regular-season conference standings

2009 season

Eastern Conference	W	L	PCT	GB	Home	Road	Conf.
Indiana Fever x	22	12	.647	–	14–3	8–9	17–5
Atlanta Dream x	18	16	.529	4.0	12–5	6–11	10–12
Detroit Shock x	18	16	.529	4.0	11–6	7–10	11–11
Washington Mystics x	16	18	.471	6.0	11–6	5–12	10–12
Chicago Sky o	16	18	.471	6.0	12–5	4–13	10–12
Connecticut Sun o	16	18	.471	6.0	12–5	4–13	9–12
New York Liberty o	13	21	.382	9.0	8–9	5–12	8–13

2008 season

Eastern Conference	W	L	PCT	GB	Home	Road	Conf.
Detroit Shock x	22	12	.647	–	14–3	8–9	16–4
Connecticut Sun x	21	13	.618	1.0	13–4	8–9	13–7
New York Liberty x	19	15	.559	3.0	11–6	8–9	11–9
Indiana Fever x	17	17	.500	5.0	11–6	6–11	12–8
Chicago Sky o	12	22	.353	10.0	8–9	4–13	10–10
Washington Mystics o	10	24	.294	12.0	6–11	4–13	6–14
Atlanta Dream o	4	30	.118	18.0	1–16	3–14	2–18

2007 season

Eastern Conference	W	L	PCT	GB	Home	Road	Conf.
Detroit Shock x	24	10	.706	–	12–5	12–5	14–6
Indiana Fever x	21	13	.618	3.0	12–5	9–8	12–8
Connecticut Sun x	18	16	.529	6.0	8–9	10–7	10–10
New York Liberty x	16	18	.471	8.0	10–7	6–11	10–10
Washington Mystics o	16	18	.471	8.0	8–9	8–9	8–12
Chicago Sky o	14	20	.412	10.0	6–11	8–9	6–14

2006 season

Eastern Conference	W	L	PCT	GB	Home	Road	Conf.
z - Connecticut Sun	26	8	.765	–	14–3	12–5	15–5
x - Detroit Shock	23	11	.676	3.0	14–3	9–8	14–6
x - Indiana Fever	21	13	.618	5.0	12–5	9–8	12–8
x - Washington Mystics	18	16	.529	8.0	13–4	5–12	12–8
e - New York Liberty	11	23	.324	15.0	7–10	4–13	7–13
e - Charlotte Sting	11	23	.324	15.0	7–10	4–3	6–14
e - Chicago Sky	5	29	.147	21.0	3–14	2–15	4–16

2005 season

Eastern Conference	W	L	PCT	GB	Home	Road	Conf.
Connecticut Sun x	26	8	.765	–	14–3	12–5	13–7
Indiana Fever x	21	13	.618	5.0	14–3	7–10	14–6
New York Liberty x	18	16	.529	8.0	10–7	8–9	9–11
Detroit Shock x	16	18	.471	10.0	12–5	4–13	11–9
Washington Mystics o	16	18	.471	10.0	10–7	6–11	9–11
Charlotte Sting o	6	28	.176	20.0	5–12	1–16	4–16

2004 season

Eastern Conference	W	L	PCT	GB	Home	Road	Conf.
Connecticut Sun x	18	16	.529	–	10–7	8–9	14–6
New York Liberty x	18	16	.529	–	11–6	7–10	10–10
Detroit Shock x	17	17	.500	1.0	8–9	9–8	11–9
Washington Mystics x	17	17	.500	1.0	11–6	6–11	9–11
Charlotte Sting o	16	18	.471	2.0	10–7	6–11	8–12
Indiana Fever o	15	19	.441	3.0	10–7	5–12	8–12

2003 season

Eastern Conference	W	L	PCT	GB	Home	Road	Conf.
Detroit Shock x	25	9	.735	–	13–4	12–5	18–6
Charlotte Sting x	18	16	.529	7.0	13–4	5–12	12–12
Connecticut Sun x	18	16	.529	7.0	10–7	8–9	11–13
Cleveland Rockers x	17	17	.500	8.0	11–6	6–11	13–11
Indiana Fever o	16	18	.471	9.0	11–6	5–12	12–12
New York Liberty o	16	18	.471	9.0	11–6	5–12	11–13
Washington Mystics o	9	25	.265	16.0	3–14	6–11	7–17

2002 season

Eastern Conference	W	L	PCT	Conf.	GB
New York Liberty x	18	14	.563	11–10	–
Charlotte Sting x	18	14	.563	12–9	–
Washington Mystics x	17	15	.531	12–9	1.0
Indiana Fever x	16	16	.500	12–9	2.0
Orlando Miracle o	16	16	.500	13–8	2.0
Miami Sol o	15	17	.469	11–10	3.0
Cleveland Rockers o	10	22	.312	7–14	8.0
Detroit Shock o	9	23	.281	6–15	9.0

2001 season

Eastern Conference	W	L	PCT	Conf.	GB
Cleveland Rockers x	22	10	.688	15–6	–
New York Liberty x	21	11	.656	13–8	1.0
Miami Sol x	20	12	.625	14–7	2.0
Charlotte Sting x	18	14	.563	15–6	4.0
Orlando Miracle o	13	19	.406	9–12	9.0
Indiana Fever o	10	22	.313	7–14	12.0
Detroit Shock o	10	22	.313	7–14	12.0
Washington Mystics o	10	22	.313	4–17	12.0

2000 season

Eastern Conference	W	L	PCT	Conf.	GB
New York Liberty x	20	12	.625	14–7	–
Cleveland Rockers x	17	15	.531	13–8	3.0
Orlando Miracle x	16	16	.500	13–8	4.0
Washington Mystics x	14	18	.438	13–8	6.0
Detroit Shock o	14	18	.438	10–11	6.0
Miami Sol o	13	19	.406	9–12	7.0
Indiana Fever o	9	23	.281	7–14	11.0
Charlotte Sting o	8	24	.250	5–16	12.0

1999 season

Eastern Conference	W	L	PCT	Conf.	GB
New York Liberty x	18	14	.563	12–8	–
Detroit Shock x	15	17	.469	12–8	3.0
Charlotte Sting x	15	17	.469	12–8	3.0
Orlando Miracle o	15	17	.469	9–11	3.0
Washington Mystics o	12	20	.375	10–10	6.0
Cleveland Rockers o	7	25	.219	5–15	11.0

1998 season

Eastern Conference	W	L	PCT	Conf.	GB
Cleveland Rockers x	20	10	.667	12–4	–
Charlotte Sting x	18	12	.600	11–5	2.0
New York Liberty o	18	12	.600	8–8	2.0
Detroit Shock o	17	13	.567	8–8	3.0
Washington Mystics o	3	27	.100	1–15	17.0

1997 season

Eastern Conference	W	L	PCT	Conf.	GB
Houston Comets x	18	10	.643	6–6	–
New York Liberty x	17	11	.607	8–4	1.0
Charlotte Sting x	15	13	.536	5–7	3.0
Cleveland Rockers o	15	13	.536	5–7	3.0